In a clash between undefeated fighters, Floyd Mayweather
managed to remain unbeaten by knocking Ricky Hatton down in the 10th round last
night. At the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Mayweather showed his class
and valor again and retained his World Boxing Council welterweight title.
The U.S.
boxer sent his English adversary to the floor in the 10th round with a left
hook to the chin. Hatton was back on his feet at the count of eight, but
Mayweather finished him with another punch to the head and the Englishman was
on his back again determining referee Joe Cortez to end the fight at 1:35 of
the round and declare Mayweather the winner through technical knock out.
The 30-year-old Michigan
native improved to 39-0 with 25 knockouts, while Hatton, 29, lost for the first
time in 44 career fights.
“Ricky Hatton is one of the toughest competitors that I've
ever faced. I hit him with some body shots, some big body shots, but he kept
coming,” Mayweather said after the fight.
According to the Associated Press, Mayweather had an 89-81
advantage on two of the judges' scorecards and 88-82 on the other. The American
earned $11 million for the fight, plus a share of any pay-per-view profits,
while Hatton will get $6 million.
Hatton was at his second career fight at 147 pounds and
despite being well supported by many fans from UK that had seats in the
16,700-seat arena, he lost for the first time in his professional career.
“I don't think he's the hardest puncher I've faced,'' said
Hatton, who had a cut over his right eye, ``but he's very accurate and he makes
the right moves for his punches and he got me.''
Mayweather, who has won six world boxing championships in
five different weight classes, has been rated by The Ring magazine as the
number-one pound-for-pound boxer in the world a few years ago. According to
Sports Illustrated, he is the 21st highest-paid American athlete at $20.3
million in yearly earnings.
Mayweather comes from a family of fighters. His father,
Floyd Mayweather, Sr., is a former welterweight contender. One of his uncles,
Jeff Mayweather, is a former IBO super featherweight champion and another
uncle, former two-division world champion Roger Mayweather, is Mayweather,
Jr.'s current trainer.
